Arkansas PBS > Engage > Pressroom > AETN Executive Director Weatherly re-elected PBS Board Professional Vice Chairman
Posted 02 Dec 2011
Allen Weatherly, Executive Director of the Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN) and the AETN Foundation, has been re-elected to serve as Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Board of Directors Professional Vice Chairman. He is serving his second term as an elected member of the Board.
It is an honor to once again serve as professional vice chairman of this excellent and committed board. Working alongside the president of PBS and the chairman of the Board, who is always a general lay director, allows AETN a stronger voice in the decision-making progress and helps us to keep our viewers here at home up to speed on the quality programs and projects headed our way. Weatherly said. To see the great work being done at PBS, at stations around the country and certainly at AETN makes the extra time and effort it takes worthwhile.
I am grateful to this Board, the AETN Commission and everyone at AETN for this continued opportunity.
Weatherly has been with AETN since 1993, serving seven years as deputy director before taking his current position in January 2001. He has worked in public television for more than 30 years. In addition to service on the board at large, he serves on the PBS Executive Committee, Station Services and the Nominating/Corporate Governance Committees. He previously served as chair of the Interconnection Committee and the Station Services Committee.
The PBS Board is an outstanding group of truly dynamic and talented leaders, Kerger said. I feel so fortunate to have such a committed and engaged Board helping to guide PBS during this time of extraordinary change and unprecedented opportunity for public media.
I look forward to working with each of our extraordinary directors as we draw the roadmap for delivering on PBS strategic priorities transforming content, strengthening stations financial health and innovating through new methods and new approaches.
The PBS Board of Directors is responsible for governing and setting policy for PBS. In total, the Board comprises 27 members: 14 professional members; 12 general directors; and the PBS president. All PBS Board members serve three-year terms, without pay. The PBS Board includes both professional directors, who are station leaders and elected by station members, and general directors, who represent the general public.
During Weatherlys tenure, AETN has expanded education services, including a comprehensive professional development website (Arkansas IDEAS) and training program available to Arkansas teachers and funded by the Arkansas Department of Education. For this service, AETN received the prestigious EDGE award for innovative use of technology in education from the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) in Washington, D.C. AETN has expanded network production and created an innovative Web-based World War II oral history archive for Arkansas, In Their Words. In 2012, AETN is working with other stations and national partners to unveil a new full-service online portal for the 50-plus generation to be called Arkansas Next Avenue.
The network has made the transition to six digital transmitters, delivers four distinct digital channels, and is extending its high-definition capabilities.
Weatherly is involved in national leadership positions with the Organization of State Broadcast Executives (OSBE) and the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA), and is a past member of the Affinity Group Coalition, a policy advisory group made up of public media leaders from across the nation. He has also long been active with PBS, APTS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
Weatherly is a graduate of Missouri State University, Springfield, Mo., with a degree in history. Prior to AETN, he worked with Ozarks Public Television in Springfield, Mo., from 1980 to 1993, progressing from development associate to senior vice president/director of broadcasting.
PBS, with its nearly 360 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content. Each month, PBS reaches 124 million people through television and 20 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front-row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industrys most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. PBS premier childrens TV programming and its website, pbskids.org, are parents and teachers most trusted partners in inspiring and nurturing curiosity and love of learning in children. More information about PBS is available at pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the Internet.